The former BDO World Championship finalist trained alongside Raymond van Barneveld in Holland in the lead-up to the tournament and admitted the experience had proved invaluable.

"Raymond, I'll give him his dues - he's amazing," he said. "We had the most enjoyable three days of my life in darts. No phones, no women, no nothing."

Sixth seed Wes Newton enjoyed a far easier night as he went though 3-0 against another debutant Johnny Haines.

Former world champion Steve Beaton progressed by the same scoreline although he was far from his best as Oceanic Masters winner Kyle Anderson missed his chance at an upset. The Australian had darts to win the opening two sets before Beaton eventually set up a second-round meeting with last year's semi-finalist James Wade.

"I got away with it a bit. I kept giving him chances but thankfully they weren't taken," Beaton told the tournament's official website www.pdc.tv. "I'll be up for playing James in the next round. I know what to expect from him and I'll prepare properly for that."